I know I know - Mummy's mean making sweet boy look like a combo of Daddy and Groucho Marx. But it is a little funny!
So sleep is a BIG thing on my mind lately - as I am sure it is on many parents minds - especially new ones. I have asked a few questions to friends on FB about pacifiers, and co sleeping and crying and have gotten many strong responses. People believe in what they do - and that is good - if it works for you and your family, then great. So now we have had to figure out what works for our family.
Pacifier - I have gone and gotten one. I let him have it if he wants it at sleeping times. he takes it some times, he doesn't at others. Most folks have said - it is easier to take away the pacifier (or dummy as it is called here in England) than it is to take away their thumb. And my friend Kriste also said - some women claim they don't have a pacifier, but they do - it is their breast. And that is true. I had been noticing that I was just trying to see if he wanted to feed even though he just had, and all he wanted was to suck for a sec, or just pretend to suck and not really eat. So I was becoming a pacifier. So, that is where we are with that.
Co-sleeping - I really like the idea of it. However, what we are dealing with here in the UK is a double bed and it is barely big enough for Andrew and I, let alone adding a baby we are trying not to squish. If we were back in Black Mountain and had bought the king size bed - then I would say yes. There just isn't the space here! But I have brought him into bed in the morning once Andrew has gotten up to get ready for work to keep him quiet for a little longer and to get some sweet snuggly time.
Crying and sleeping - whew! Last night I gave up on co sleeping and trying to lay him in his Moses Basket and put him into his froggy seat that vibrates and gets him to bed so nicely. So he slept in that on the floor next to our bed last night. I just had to catch a decent hour or two or rest so I didn't lose it. So any thoughts/advice/comments are appreciated on trying to get some sleep all across the board and have a healthy happy baby and family!
So, I will let you all know how this goes! But thanks for all the comments/well wishes/ support/ prayers/ advice - we appreciate it.
Love, the Marsh's
Great attitude!! You will get so much advice...you do have to figure out what works best for you guys. The sleep deprivation is so hard - you do kind of adjust to it (not sure if that makes you feel better!). It will most likely be a few months before he can go more than 3 hours between feedings and really has his days and nights regulated. We tried to make sure that nap times during the day did not always involve total quiet and dark - but nighttime does. I didn't change diapers at night (unless truly needed) or turn on any lights to try to disrupt and wake up as little as possible (both me and the baby!). When they are that little you are fighting two different battles - they physically need to eat every few hours and don't have the neurological development to sleep more than that and they don't have the skills to put themselves to sleep. You can work on the one - but you just have to wait for the other to work itself out! Either way - your little guy is BEAUTIFUL and this part of it will pass before you know it...mostly because you exist in a sleep depraved fog :). Above all, do what works for YOU and trust yourself!!
ReplyDelete